Norman Fairbanks - Cathedral City Counterfeits

jakesjake

Review by Jake W.

Cathedral City Counterfeits: Norman Fairbanks’ Ambient Gem That’ll Haunt Your Headphones (In a Good Way) Let’s get one thing straight—Norman Fairbanks isn’t here to spoon-feed you catchy hooks or dancefloor bangers. Nope. With Cathedral City Counterfeits, this US-based electronic wizard dives deep into the murky waters of ambient and experimental music, crafting an album that feels like wandering through a foggy cathedral at midnight. Released in 2014 under his own label (because who needs gatekeepers, right?), this self-released masterpiece is a slow burn that sticks with you long after the last note fades. Now, let’s talk tracks. The album kicks off with “Counterfeit 5,” which hits you like a velvet-covered brick. It’s all shimmering synths and eerie drones, but there’s something oddly comforting about it—like a lullaby for insomniacs. You know those nights when your brain won’t shut up? This track whispers, “Hey, I got you,” and somehow makes the chaos feel poetic. Then there’s “Counterfeit 3,” the sneaky standout. If “Counterfeit 5” is the introvert chilling in the corner, “Counterfeit 3” is the mysterious figure lurking in the shadows, beckoning you closer. Its pulsing rhythms and glitchy textures create this hypnotic vibe that’s equal parts unsettling and mesmerizing. It’s the kind of song that makes you go, “Wait, is my toaster haunted?” Spoiler: It probably is. The rest of the album follows suit, blending ambient soundscapes with experimental quirks. Tracks like “Counterfeit 1” and “Counterfeit 4” keep things unpredictable, while “Counterfeit 2” and “Counterfeit 6” round out the collection with moody introspection. There’s no filler here—just six slices of sonic weirdness that reward patience and curiosity. So why does this album stick with me? Maybe it’s because it doesn’t try too hard to impress. It’s unapologetically itself, warts and all. Listening to Cathedral City Counterfeits feels like eavesdropping on someone else’s dream—a little disjointed, kinda strange, but undeniably beautiful. And hey, isn’t that what great art’s supposed to do? Mess with your head just enough to make you think twice about reality? Or maybe I’m overthinking it, and Norman Fairbanks just wanted us to stare at our ceilings for hours. Either way, mission accomplished. Final thought: If this album were a person, it’d be the quiet kid in class who secretly builds robots in their garage. Weird? Sure. But also kind of awesome.

Download Norman Fairbanks - Cathedral City Counterfeits
Artist: Norman Fairbanks
Album: Cathedral City Counterfeits

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Filename: norman-fairbanks-cathedral-city-counterfeits.zip
  • MP3 size: 46.8 mb
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Tracks

TrackDurationPreview
Counterfeit 315:00
Counterfeit 215:00
Counterfeit 415:00
Counterfeit 68:00
Counterfeit 58:00
Counterfeit 115:00

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Not On Label (Norman Fairbanks Self-released)

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About Norman Fairbanks

Norman Fairbanks is an American electronic musician, producer, and composer for games, film and multimedia, based in Los Angeles and Berlin. In 2003, Norman started an ongoing audio concept art project with a goal to create an unbiased, neo-expressionist audio reflection of contemporary American culture by processing and blending sonic artefacts from the vast panopticon of US mass media with found noise, selected field recordings and electroacoustic elements (designed to investigate new tonalities in sound). While some of his works are done exclusively on laptop, Norman Fairbanks also had been working with a variety of hardware synthesizers and custom-built instruments, such as Glam Machines  built for the musician by David Cranmer and including a pair of circuit-bend toys and a lo-fi sampler. In 2007, Fairbanks made an album entirely on Tenori-On synthesizer without any other sound sources. Norman's albums were mostly self-released as MP3 downloads on his official website; eventually, it was shut down and redesigned in less informative form  some of the older content, as well as new 'Audio Concepts,' are currently available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. Fairbanks co-developed an 'interactive 24 hour music generator' app Kling Klang Machine with . Norman also makes commercial soundtracks for various mobile apps and video production, such as Lifeline: Flatline and Lifeline 2 smartphone games and Rhone Apparel's Ambassador Series  advertisement video profiles of retired athletes.

Interesting fact about Album

Here’s something cool: Norman Fairbanks released an electronic album in 2014 called *Cathedral City Counterfeits*. It’s a mix of ambient and experimental sounds, and it feels like stepping into another world. The album has six tracks, all named after counterfeit numbers—like "Counterfeit 3" and "Counterfeit 6." It’s self-released under his own label, giving it that raw, personal touch. Definitely worth a listen if you're into moody, atmospheric vibes.